ment
at Washington warned Dr. Ferrara that unless he ceased his pernicious
operations he and his associate, Raimundo Cabrera, would be placed under
arrest. This had the result of tempering somewhat the zeal of the
conspirators, though their propaganda was still furtively maintained.

In passing, it may be stated that a part of the general plan--indeed the
first step in the proposed uprising--was to assassinate General Menocal,
while on his way from the palace to his estate, eight miles distant,
known as El Chico. The mayor of the suburb of Marianao, together with
the chief of police of that village, and four soldiers, who had agreed
for a consideration to take part in the assassination, were stationed at
a point carefully selected, with orders to fire a charge of buckshot
into the President's back from the step of his automobile, and then
behind the screen of trees and underbrush which lined the roadside to
make their escape. It was proposed to assassinate the chauffeurs and all
others who might be in the car in order to prevent immediate pursuit.
Since General Menocal was in the habit of going to his country home
every afternoon between five and six, the plan probably would have
succeeded, had it not been for an attack of conscience on the part of
one of the soldiers, who, after agreeing, lost heart, and a few hours
before the departure of the machine hastened to the palace and insisted
upon seeing the President, to whom he gave all the details of the plot.
The betrayal of the plot by the soldier, who was suspected when he did
not make his appearance in company with the others, and the machine not
leaving the palace at the usual hour, which was to have been telephoned
to the plotters, convinced them that discovery was more than probable.
The mayor, with the chief of police, and the others, immediately fled
from Marianao. Pursuit was given, in spite of which they resisted
capture for several days. Exhausted and wounded, they were finally taken
in an old sugar mill near Bahia Honda, in the Province of Pinar del Rio.

Not discouraged by this failure, numerous other plans for the
assassination of the President were arranged, among others the
manufacture of a highly explosive bomb, and an arrangement by which four
Liberals agreed to attempt to place or throw it under the President's
desk. In order to make this plan work, it was necessary to have some man
who could gain access to the palace, and to the office of the Presiden